Cora sighed as she sat in her office. She was very frustrated since she learned that Snow's off spring was in town. Emma could ruin everything. She needed to get the woman out of town.
The old woman looked at a framed picture which was standing on her desk. It was a picture of her three daughters. Of course it was fake since Regina still had very long hair in that picture. She stared at it for a moment and didn't realize Regina had entered her office.
"Mother?" The young brunette asked and looked at her mother with her big brown eyes.
Cora looked up at her young daughter and studied her for a moment. Her hair was definitely longer than the night before which could only mean one thing. The magic in her hair was still there even after cutting it all off. It also meant that Emma's arrival in town stirred up some magic in this town. She had to stop it. "Hello, dear " she said softly and still stared at her.
"I got your afternoon coffee. " the young girl answered and put the coffee on her mother's desk and ran a hand through her now shoulder lenght hair.
"Thanks, Regina. You can sit down for a moment. I only need to sign a few things and then we can go home." She explained to her youngest daughter and turned back to her paper work.
Regina did as she was told and sat down, looking around the office. Her mother had a lot of pictures of them in the office. She stared at a particular one for a long moment. She didn't quite remember when it was taken but it had to be when she was very young. Maybe 16 because she still had really long hair in that picture. It must have been taken shortly before her hair had been chopped short.
She looked then at a different picture which featured all four of them. Regina had short hair in that picture like Mary so it must have been taken right after she got it cut. She bid her lip and played with her hair for a moment.
Cora soon finished her paper work and saw what Regina was doing and grabbed her hand as she was annoyed by Regina playing with it. It always annoyed her when Regina did that which was one of the reasons she wanted to chop it short in the first place. "Stop that, dear. You aren't a little girl anymore. " she pointed out and got up and grabbed her purse and car keys along with her coffee. "Come on, we are having family dinner tonight. " she reminded her and walked with Regina to her car and drove home.
Cora got immediatly started on dinner with Regina's help. Cora didn't cook that often but when she did it was always very delicious. The older woman just couldn't stop thinking about Regina's hair though. It truly bothered her.
"You know, dear, I think it's high time we cut that hair of yours again. I'll take you to the hairdresser tomorrow with Mary." She told her and looked at her.
Regina sighed. "But I want to grow it out, Mother. You know I like it long. " she pointed out and looked her in the eyes.
Cora rolled her eyes. "Well but you remember what happened before we cut it? You were bullied for it in school. You are 23 years old now, long hair is for little girls. " she reminded her and looked at her sternly.
"But Zelena has long hair. You are right. I'm 23 so I should be able to make my own decisions now. " Regina shot back and looked at her seriously as she chopped the onions.
"Well who pays your bills? Who provides you with a roof over your head? Who buys you clothes? Who provides you with food every day? " Cora asked and looked at Regina pointly with one of her perfectly arched brows raised.
Regina sighed and looked down. Of course her mother did all this for her but it's not like she didn't want to get a job and pay her own bills. She wanted to be independent but her mother didn't let her do any of it. "You " she answered quietly and sighed defeated. She knew her mother won this round.
"And as long as I am paying for you and you are living under my roof you will do as I say." Cora pointed out and smiled in triumph as she knew the argument was done. "So you will get your hair cut tomorrow along with your sister and that's the last I want to hear of this. " she added and continued to cook with Regina's help. She had Regina right where she wanted her.
Soon after, Zelena and Henry arrived for dinner along with Mary Margaret and they all sat down for dinner.
The next day, Cora indeed took Regina and Mary to the salon to get their hair trimmed. Regina's hair had grown even longer over the night and Cora didn't like this at all. Magic couldn't be returning to the town as it meant her curse was weakend.
They arrived at the salon and sat down in the waiting area. The mayor grabbed a magazine and flipped through it as they waited.
Regina sat nervously between her mother and sister and sighed deeply as she looked around the salon. She really didn't like getting her hair cut. She prefered it long but she knew her mother wouldn't back down from this. She looked at Mary who gave her a reassuring smile. "You'll look great, Gina. Don't worry. I'm sure it will only be a trim. " the young teacher told her younger sister and held her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. She knew her sister loved her hair but their mother had a very strong opinion when it came to hair.
"I'm not so sure about that." Regina mumbled and looked up at Mary and sighed. She was very nervous. Her hair had seemingly grown to a few inches below her shoulders over night which was really odd. Henry insisted of course that it was due to the curse but there had to be a different explanation.
Soon a hairdresser came over to the them. The salon was completely empty so the full attention would be on them. The young woman smiled at them. "Good morning, Madam Mayor. " she said and looked first at Cora and then at Regina and Mary.
"Good morning, Mary. And Regina, I haven't seen you in a while. " she noted as Regina's hair had clearly grown a lot since they last cut it.
Regina nodded slowly and ran a hand through her hair. "I guess so" she said a bit nervously.
"Alright. Who goes first?" The young hairdresser asked and smiled reassuringly at Regina as she could tell she was nervous.
"I'll go first." Cora replied and went over to the chair with the hairdresser and got her hair trimmed like usual.
Regina watched her mother and sighed as she played slightly with her hair and sighed deeply. She really hoped she wouldn't end up with a pixie cut like Snow. She really didn't want that.
Soon Cora was done and it was Mary's turn next. The teacher smiled reassuringly at her sister before going to the chair and sitting down to get her hair trimmed. After a while she was also done and it was Regina's turn now.
The young brunette sighed softly and sat down in the chair nervously while her mother talked to the hairstylist.
"I was thinking a bob like she used to have. A little below chin lenght. " Cora explained and showed the hairstylist the lenght.
Regina was relieved when she heard this. She really didn't want to go completely short again.
The hairstylist nodded and first took Regina to get her hair washed and then she cut it and styled it. "All done" she said after a while and smiled at the young brunette through the mirror.
Regina smiled. She still didn't like short hair but the bob was fine. She didn't mind that lenght too much. So she got out of the chair and walked back over to Mary while their mother paid for the haircuts.
"You look so beautiful. " Mary told her and hugged her happily.
Regina smiled a little and followed them out of the salon. They went to Granny's for lunch.
At Granny's, Robin was having lunch with the twins. The kids each had a cheeseburger and fries and a milkshake while he just had a grilled cheese and some tea.
"Daddy? You want some fries?" Roland asked curiously since he noticed his dad wasn't eating that much.
Surprised Robin turned to his son and smiled at him. "No thanks, buddy. I'm not that hungry. " he explained and ruffled his son's wild curls. A side effect of the chemo was that he completely lost his appetite sometimes. He looked up as the bell above the door jingled and he saw the mayor entering the diner with her daughter Mary, who was a teacher at his kids' school and her younger sister Regina, the nurse or volunteer who had been there to his last session. She was so beautiful but something about her seemed different than last time he saw her. Her hair was shorter. But she still looked incredibly beautiful.
Regina entered the diner with her mother and sister and smiled when she saw Robin but quickly looked away when she noticed he was looking at her too. Her mother wouldn't be pleased if she saw her staring at a man.
They sat in a booth right next to Robin and Regina noticed for the first time the twins. So that's why she had seen him at Henry's school. The kids were very cute she noticed. She wondered though for some reason where the mother was.
Cora of course noticed Robin and the twins and glared at the man. She still wasn't over the fact that he not only stole her favourite necklace but also Regina's heart. Even after everything Cora considered Regina her daughter and she wanted better for her than to become the wife of a dirty thief and get pregnant at 16. Luckily Regina would never remember him thanks to the curse.
Raelyn looked at Regina and smiled and whispered to her father "the lady is very pretty, daddy."
Robin nodded slowly and smiled at his daughter. "You are prettier." He told her and kissed her cheek. But Raelyn was right, Regina was beautiful and he couldn't get her out of his mind. It was as if he had known her in another life. But that wasn't possible.